We entered 2019 with ‘full demolition force,’ – several buildings are already gone!

The next set of buildings, near Laguna Street, will be demolished and require the Tennis Courts to be closed through the end of January 2019. The attached sign is posted on site.

Once these buildings are removed and utilities disabled (including drinking fountain), a secondary construction fence will be installed on the south side of the court slightly shortening the length of the tennis courts. To protect park users, this construction barrier will remain for the duration of the park renovation.

Throughout the next few months, the park will be transformed by the removal of all existing park buildings and site features. This month’s tasks were:

RPD salvaged a parts of playground equipment, restroom accessories and building furnishings which will be re-purposed in city park sites that have the same items.

Contractor in partnership with PG&E have identified all utilities and are currently disengaging them to start excavation in January.

The tennis are currently open; however, for user safety, they will be closed intermittently from several weeks to several months throughout the entire park renovation. Please check this website for closure updates and this Map With Tennis Courts Near Margaret Hayward.

Tennis courts will be affected by the following construction tasks

Night lighting: The tennis courts currently to not have lights pending PG&E’s temporary power to the site. Expected in February 2019.

SAN FRANCISCO – A project to improve park access, update play equipment and enhance programs for seniors and youth at a beloved Western Addition gathering space broke ground today.

The redesign of Margaret Hayward Playground, which will be complete in 2020, will unify the sprawling 6-acre property, welcoming visitors through a singular entrance. The renovation also includes a new children’s play area, updated sport courts and play fields, and a new community building with expanded meeting space and kitchen amenities.

Western Addition community members shaped the renovation plan of the park, which has been a neighborhood fixture for more than a century. Neighbors requested the new design prioritize safety, increase outdoor space and establish a sense of cohesion between the park’s various features. As a result, barriers will be removed, landscape expanded, sightlines improved, and space devoted for youth and senior activities. The new community building, full of natural light, will look out onto a plaza that will host performances, community events, and classes.

“Margaret Hayward Park has been an important community space in the Western Addition neighborhood for generations,” said Mayor London Breed. “This was my neighborhood park when I was growing up. I am excited for this renovation project because it will bring important improvements so the park can continue to serve the community for years to come.”

Supervisor Vallie Brown, a longtime advocate for providing equitable recreational services to the Fillmore/Western Addition community, said the revamped playground will offer something for everyone.

“I’m thrilled that we’re renewing our promise to the surrounding neighborhood by investing in the park. When it reopens, a bigger and brighter Margaret Hayward Playground will ensure that nearby elders, families, and kids can truly make the park their own,” Brown said.

The updated play area, designed to ignite children’s imaginations, will be at the heart of the park.

“Margaret Hayward Playground has been cherished by so many and for so long. We couldn’t be more excited to be carrying out the community’s vision for polishing this neighborhood jewel,” said San Francisco Recreation and Park Department General Manager Phil Ginsburg.

Charles M. Collins, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of San Francisco, said the new community building is especially important for children and their parents.

“The renovation, besides being very functional, creates a welcoming atmosphere to the entire community. The design of the building was created with input from all the community partners and took into consideration safety, versatility for a multifaceted program and the ease of accessibility,” Collins said. “Renovation ensures that the youth and families will have quality programs far into the future.”

The $28 million project is funded by the 2012 Clean and Safe Neighborhoods Park GO Bond, with additional funds from Market Octavia Community Improvements Fund and the California Housing Related Parks Program, plus proposed gifts from Nearby Schools Initiative and Open Space funds. The site is shared with the Department of Emergency Management, which operates the city’s 911 Call Center and Emergency Operations Center.

The park, originally part of Jefferson Square which sits across Turk Street, served as a refugee camp following the 1906 earthquake. In 1918, it was named to honor Margaret S. Hayward, one of the founding members of San Francisco’s Playground Commission, which was created in 1907. The following year, Hayward was elected to the board of directors of the California Club, the premiere vehicle for child reform in the City. Margaret S. Hayward Park was the first San Francisco Recreation and Park property named for a woman.

There is a buzz around the park because construction is starting late November 2018!

The attached flyer was posted around the park initiating the preparations for construction. In the next few weeks, the construction team will be surveying the area to install construction fences before Thanksgiving and to secure the site for construction mobilization.

The tennis courts will remain open during the park renovation; however intermittent court closures and power outages will be scheduled for user safety during the park construction. Advance notice will be posted on site and the website page.

Your commitment, input and flexibility shaped the project and brought us to this exciting milestone.Thank you!

Please continue to check the website and stay tuned for further updates.

]]>Margaret Hayward Playground Renovation-Award-October 2018https://sfrecpark.org/margaret-hayward-playground-renovation-award-october-2018/
Mon, 29 Oct 2018 21:34:54 +0000http://sfrecpark.org/?p=123806Continue reading →]]>Last month, Commission approved the award of construction contract to Robert A. Bothman Construction who is currently submitting their documents to certify the award, so they can mobilize onsite this fall.

Construction will start this fall, mid to late November 2018. Stay tuned for specific details and dates to be posted both on site and on the website next week.

]]>Margaret Hayward Playground Renovation-Bid/Award-August 2018https://sfrecpark.org/margaret-hayward-playground-renovation-bid-award-august-2018/
Tue, 21 Aug 2018 00:57:58 +0000http://sfrecpark.org/?p=122555Continue reading →]]>Exciting News- the project received several bids and SF Public Works- Contract Administration team is in the process of confirming that city requirements are met before identifying the winning bidder. Once the information is verified, the contractor can be announced and construction contract awarded.

For additional details on the bid/award phase, please visit:

http://mission.sfgov.org/OCABidPublication/BidDetail.aspx?K=13265

https://stgint.sfdpw.org/construction/Pages/BidResults.aspx

]]>Your’re Invited to Margaret Hayward Playground – Planning Meeting #4https://sfrecpark.org/event/yourre-invited-to-margaret-hayward-playground-planning-meeting-4/
Thu, 04 May 2017 01:00:00 +0000http://sfrecpark.org/?post_type=tribe_events&p=107840Continue reading →]]>After several meetings with the community and dozens of meetings with community organizations and groups, we are ready to present a possible design based on all of your great feedback.

We hope you will join us:
May 3, 2017
5:45pm doors open
6:00pm actual meeting start time
African American Art and Culture Complex
762 Fulton Street

If you cannot attend we will post the presentation here, the day after the meeting, at which time you can send your comments to the Project Manager at Jacob.Gilchrist@sfgov.org.

Thank you for participating in the discussion and helping us re-design the park to better suit the community’s needs; we are looking forward to it!

]]>Women’s History: Margaret S. Haywardhttps://sfrecpark.org/womens-history-moment-margaret-s-hayward/
Wed, 15 Mar 2017 17:31:23 +0000http://sfrecpark.org/?p=109197Margaret S. Hayward is the only woman commissioner (including park, recreation, or playground) to have a park or other recreational facility named for her in San Francisco. And Hayward Playground is one of the few Recreation and Park properties named after a woman. The others include: Alice Chalmers (school principal), … Continue reading →]]>

Margaret S. Hayward is the only woman commissioner (including park, recreation, or playground) to have a park or other recreational facility named for her in San Francisco. And Hayward Playground is one of the few Recreation and Park properties named after a woman. The others include: Alice Chalmers (school principal), Ina D. Coolbrith (poet laureate), Margaret O. duPont (tennis), Dorothy Erskine (activist), Alice B. Marble (tennis), and Betty Ann Ong (flight attendant aboard hijacked jet on 9/11), and Helen Wills (tennis).

BackgroundMargaret was the daughter of John and Jean Henderson. She married Lewis A. Hayward (who was born in New Hampshire in 1847) on July 19, 1882 in San Francisco. Lewis A. Hayward was treasurer of the Guadeloupe Diary Company and was president of the Federation of Improvement Clubs in1891.

California ClubThe California Club was an early San Francisco athletic club, which was established in the 1860s. Men’s athletics were the focus, but wives of the membership started to use their status as club members to further social causes.

In 1898, women of the club made a move to be represented on the previously all-male Board of Education. Part of the impetus was the revised city charter of 1898, which passively allowed women to participate on the board.

With that victory behind them, the all-women Civic Department of the California Club was responsible for the creation of Charter Amendment Number 18, which was passed by voters in November 1907 with an 88% percentile, creating a playground commission. The new body would be responsible to purchase land, equipment, and maintain playground properties. This would be separate from the Park Commission that oversaw Golden Gate, Buena Vista, and Mountain Lake Parks. Hayward was elected to the board of directors of the California Club in April 1908. As a board member of the California Club, Hayward was part of the forefront of elevating the status of women.

The Playground MovementThe first playground in the U.S. was the Sharon Quarters for Children in Golden Gate Park, which opened in 1887; this was an anomaly until the turn ofthe 20th century as playgrounds were uncommon in public spaces up to that time. With urbanization, humanitarians saw these spaces as a social solution to cramped quarters, poor air quality, and social isolation.

In 1906 the Playground Association of America was formed to promote the benefits of playgrounds to communities. With the idea of a child’s development in mind, contemporary playgrounds would have separate sections for play, athletic fields separated by sex, and have play supervisors who would teach children to organize their play.

Playground CommissionOn December 16, 1907, Mayor Edward R. Taylor announced the names of the newly created Playground Commission board who would serve a term of four years. Mrs. L.A. Hayward was one of them. As charter members, the commission met for the first time on January 8, 1908, in the mayor’s office.

She used the name Mrs. L.A. Hayward both socially and in the commission meeting notes, but as of February 1912, changed it to Mrs. Margaret S. (Stewart) Hayward. (Her husband died in 1900.) But it also may have signaled her work in social causes as a woman, not a wife.

Death and an Honor BestowedUpon her death on June 20, 1918 of pneumonia, long serving Mayor James Rolph, who had reupped her appointment to the Playground Commission many times, ordered the flag atop City Hall lowered to half-mast in her honor. She had served on the board for a period of 10 years, until just weeks before her fatal illness. The name of the south half of Jefferson Square was officially changed to “The Margaret S. Hayward Playground” on July 29, 1918 by the Playground Commission.

(Christopher Pollock, Historian-in-Residence)

]]>Planning Update for Margaret Hayward Project!https://sfrecpark.org/planning-update-for-margaret-hayward-project/
Thu, 20 Oct 2016 19:20:26 +0000http://sfrecpark.org/?p=106115Continue reading →]]>Since the last Community Workshop, we have been refining the overall plan proposal for the improvements to Margaret Hayward Playground. Rec and Park staff have met with the San Francisco Arts Commission twice to review the design. We’ve also been working with our neighbors at the Department of Emergency Management to insure the best overall park layout for all. Lastly, we have reached out to some of you to discuss your particular interests in the improvements. In particular, we’ve been focused on:

– the scope of the proposed Community Room
– the central plaza space
– refined layout details for the playground
– perimeter security

We expect that we’ll be prepared to share another look at the proposed layout sometime in the next 6-8 weeks and we’ll be sending out invitations once we’ve settled on a date/time. In the meantime, please please e-mail Jacob.gilchrist@sfgov.org if you have any project questions or concerns

]]>You’re Invited to the 3rd Margaret Hayward Playground Project Planning Meetinghttps://sfrecpark.org/event/youre-invited-to-the-margaret-hayward-playground-improvement-project-planning-meeting/
Thu, 19 May 2016 00:45:00 +0000http://sfrecpark.org/?post_type=tribe_events&p=99183Continue reading →]]>Please save the date for the third public workshop to discuss the renovation of the Margaret Hayward Playground. At this meeting, we’ll review previous design ideas and work with you to develop them further.

Bring your imagination and vision!

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 18, 5:45 – 7:30, at the African American Art & Culture Complex at 762 Fulton Street.